Dr. Neil Whitehead, PhD is a research scientist in New Zealand who has worked with the New Zealand government for 24 years and with the UN for four years. His wife Briar is a journalist and writer.
Today's Friday 5 from CitizenLink talks to Dr. and Mrs. Whitehead about their research into the causes of homosexuality.
Many homosexuals claim there is a genetic cause which predetermines homosexual behavior, but this is an attempt to avoid moral responsibility for one's choices.
Among the many causes of homosexuality, Dr. Whitehead lists sexual abuse, failure to identify with masculinity or rebellion against it, exclusion and bullying, and other things.
People have been leaving homosexual behavior behind for thousands of years, and only recently has it become a "professional" opinion among some that homosexual behavior cannot be changed.
Dr. Neil and Briar Whitehead spoke at the annual NARTH conference in Denver recently. They shared some of their insights with Kim Trobee.
13 comments:
Please quote one of these "professionals" who says that homosexual behavior cannot be changed.
Anonymous, are you asserting that homosexuality can be changed?
If you define homosexuality as simply "behavior" and not "attraction," then yes, I would have to say that given your definition, homosexuality can be changed. Unfortunately for you, the dictionary definition of "homosexuality" can mean either behavior and/or attraction, so if you dishonestly ignore the latter component, of course you can trick anyone into proving your point - as you thought you had done with the commenter named Jake earlier today. And since you most likely define "heterosexuality" as both behavior AND attraction, something tells me you're couching this discussion in somewhat unfair terms. But this really isn't about fairness at all, is it? ;-)
Now, how about you quit stalling and quote these elusive people who claim that homosexual behavior cannot be changed? They must be out there, otherwise you wouldn't have said it - assuming you're an honest person, of course.
Ah, cinemaphile85 (or is it Alex?), haven't seen you in a while. Anonymous commenting not cutting it anymore?
Homosexuality is both attraction and behavior--and both can be changed. Numerous homosexuals have attested that both can be changed. And as a former drunk, I can attest that both attraction (to booze) and behavior (actually drinking the booze) can change; it took a while for the desire for booze to go away, but I haven't had the desire to drink in somewhere around 15 years.
If you believe homosexuality cannot be changed, I'm guessing you aren't merely propping up that hope purely on your own desires. I know there are plenty of sympathetic apologists out there willing to lend a hand to moral dereliction. Which one or ones do you rely on for hope that homosexual behavior cannot be changed?
Sorry, my name isn't Alex. And anonymous commenting "isn't cutting it anymore" because you disabled the feature, as you tend to do. By the way, why do you give people the option to comment anonymously and then basically call them cowards for doing it? That's not very nice.
Your intentional misinterpretation of my comments is exactly the kind of dishonesty I'm talking about. I JUST said that homosexual behavior can, can, can, can be changed. It's called NOT DOING IT. As for whether one can change their orientation, try being attracted to men instead of women for a day and tell me how it goes.
Still waiting for you to quote one of these "professionals" who say that homosexual behavior cannot be changed. Surely you can at least give me a name? I do a LOT of reading on this subject and have spoken with several mental health professionals and college professors, and not once have I heard any of them say that homosexuals are unable to change their sexual behavior. That's because it is NOT a "professional opinion," but rather one that you made up.
cinemaphile85, I have the anonymous commenting feature on (when I can) so that a passing reader can comment on something without having to go through a registration process. It is NOT intended to be a hammock for the lazy and for those who like to unload a lot of garbage here with no way to even identify a conversational chain.
If you agree that homosexual behavior can be changed, what does it matter what professional might have said it could NOT be changed? I'm sure you're familiar with any who have, so why the games?
If homosexual behavior can be changed, why don't you do it and adopt a moral behavior?
Bob, I am actually NOT familiar with any professionals who have said homosexual behavior cannot be changed...hence my repeated requests that you back up your words with facts, which is your obligation as a journalist. I'm not trying to play games with you; I honestly have never heard any professional say such a thing.
And I choose not to change my behavior because frankly I have not encountered a single one of the health risks or dangers you often cite as the "evils" of homosexuality. I have never gotten sick, I don't sleep around, I don't use drugs, I am not depressed or suicidal (quite content with my life, actually), I don't beat my partner, I don't "indoctrinate" children, and my behavior does not hurt anyone or threaten anyone's marriage. This is not because I'm "lucky" enough to have avoided those things; luck has nothing to do with it. It's about making smart, responsible choices, and making sure my partner is the same way. And as for the spiritual aspect of my behavior, well, the Bible just isn't an authoritative text in my opinion, so God's supposed "design" for my life means nothing to me. If you can prove that Noah fit two of every animal onto a wooden boat, including the estimated 30 million species of insects alone, then I'll be more than happy to accept everything else the Bible claims.
We may disagree on many things, but I won't have someone call me an immoral person whose lifestyle is an evil cancer on society, and then be categorized as part of the stereotypical gay community, because that is absolutely contrary to the reality of my life.
I guess you don't care about journalistic integrity. Oh well, looks like we'll never know if any professionals really do think that you can't change homosexual behavior.
So you agree that there is no reason why a homosexual can't behave in a moral manner. Great! It's refreshing to see some honesty from a homosexual activist.
Yay! Now I'd love it if you could show the same honesty by citing these elusive professionals....
The point I was trying to get across in this post is that homosexual behavior is immoral, and that homosexual behavior can be changed.
I actually don't know of any professionals who have explicitly stated that homosexual behavior cannot be changed...but many do claim that homosexual inclination cannot be changed (it can, and many homosexual have attested to the fact) and make the strong and expected implication that because they believe the inclination cannot be changed, by default the behavior cannot be changed.
Both of which are incorrect.
But I always try to make the distinction between homosexual inclination and homosexual behavior because--and here's the key--being tempted isn't immoral, but giving in to that temptation is.
Thanks for helping me make that distinction abundantly clear. You've been more helpful than perhaps you know. :-)
In your article, you wrote:
"People have been leaving homosexual behavior behind for thousands of years, and only recently has it become a 'professional' opinion among some that homosexual behavior cannot be changed."
And just now you finally said what we both knew all along:
"I actually don't know of any professionals who have explicitly stated that homosexual behavior cannot be changed."
So even though you cannot name one person who constitutes this "some," that didn't stop you from saying that this is what "some" people believe anyway.
In other words, you lied.
Emphasis on behavior. As I said, many do claim that homosexual inclination cannot be changed (it can, and many homosexual have attested to the fact) and make the strong and expected implication that because they believe the inclination cannot be changed, by default the behavior cannot be changed.
I should have been more clear in what I meant, but there is no mistaking the implication made by both homosexual activists and some apologetic professionals: that the inclination cannot be changed, and therefore the behavior cannot be changed. And BOTH of those are lies.
Because if inclination can in fact be changed, then there is no reason whatsoever not to help someone end an abberant, unnatural, immoral and unhealthy practice...as we did before the psychiatric community took a PC pill in the 1970s.
And even if inclination could not be changed (as they claim the inclination to alcoholism cannot be changed--also another lie), the behavior could still be changed.
We all have an inclination to sin sin some way or another--usually in many ways. However, when we get before God, he isn't going to say, "Oh, your psychiatrist said your orientation couldn't be changed? Hey, no problem; come on in." Just as the cop who pulls you over for doing 50 MPH in a 30 MPH zone isn't going to say, "You were late for work, huh? Oh, sorry for pulling you over. Go on ahead."
Post a Comment